The present invention relates generally to walls made from hardenable construction materials, such as concrete, having at least one contoured face. In particular, the present invention relates to concrete form liners for use in forming concrete walls contoured to have the appearance of a stone wall.
In the past, walls have been constructed from individual units such as stones, rocks, blocks, or bricks which are assembled into the shape of a wall and held together with a bonding substance, such as mortar.
One problem with a wall of this type is that they are typically expensive and time consuming to construct. One alternative type of wall involves constructing a wall from hardenable construction material, such as poured concrete. Concrete walls of this type may be constructed so that the face of the wall is substantially smooth. A concrete wall may also be textured, thereby having the appearance of a wall formed from a plurality of individual assembled units, such as bricks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,822 (the ""822 patent) illustrates one example of constructing a vertical wall from concrete creating the appearance of a wall formed from individual bricks. The ""822 patent also illustrates a technique of providing a vertical concrete wall with a contoured surface by pouring the concrete wall between mold members that leave behind a contour on one or more of the lateral faces of the wall once the concrete hardens.
Additional techniques are known in the construction industry for creating concrete surfaces with textures and patterns. In the past, horizontal concrete surfaces such as roads, sidewalks, and floors, have been provided with textured surfaces, for example, by stamping a contour into the concrete before it hardens. Vertical concrete walls have also been provided with textured surfaces by adding a desired texture to a surface through veneering, wherein another material is adhered to the exterior surface of the concrete wall.
Several problems arise when trying to simulate natural rock of randomly sized and/or shaped units, intended to resemble a natural stone wall. When it is desired to have a natural looking concrete wall that appears to be formed from a plurality of non-linear and/or non-uniform units, the concrete wall may not appear natural if a repeating pattern is easily visible. Such a problem does not exist in forming a brick wall where all bricks have the same dimensions. The ability to easily and inexpensively create the appearance of a non-repeating pattern in a stone wall has been a significant concern in the construction industry.
Another problem arises in the ability to easily provide mold members that are usable in a variety of different applications to create a concrete wall having the contour of a wall formed from individual units. For example, in some construction applications, the base of the wall may not be at a uniform elevation if the base of the wall follows the contours of the ground with varying elevations. In other construction applications, walls of varying heights may be required. To provide contoured mold members having customized sizes to accommodate different construction applications often significantly increases construction costs.
It is clear that a long and unfilled need has existed in the art for a system for more easily and inexpensively forming walls with one or more contoured faces that resemble individual assembled building units. In addition, there is a need for a system for use in more easily and inexpensively creating concrete walls in a variety of construction applications with one or more faces that more naturally resemble walls formed from individual non-linear and/or non-uniform building units, such as stones. The present invention solves these and other problems associated with the prior art.
The present invention relates to a form liner adapted for use in forming a wall having a natural stone wall contour. The form liner includes a lateral relief mold face having a plurality of recessed portions. Each recessed portion is adapted to form a stone-like surface having the contour of a natural stone. The lateral relief mold face also includes a non-linear latticework interlocking portion. The interlocking portion is adapted to form the mortar-like surface that lies between the stone-like surfaces. The form liner also includes a mating edge surrounding the perimeter of the lateral relief mold face. The interlocking portion surrounds the perimeters of each of the recessed portions except where a recessed portion contacts the mating edge. Thus, where a recessed portion contacts the mating edge, a portion of its perimeter is the interlocking portion and the remainder is the mating edge. The interlocking portion engages the mating edge at a plurality of mating alignment points. The mating alignment points are spaced equidistant along the mating edge with the distance between any two adjacent mating alignment points equal to a mating alignment unit.
The form liner of the present invention is matable with at least one other form liner to form a gang form liner for use in forming a plurality of sections of wall simultaneously. The gang form liner comprises a plurality of form liners mated along mating edges. When the form liners mate along mating edges, mating alignment points from adjacent liners align to form an aligned mortar-forming interlocking portion. The aligned mortar forming interlocking portion surrounds at least one of the recessed portions on each of the liners to form a combined stone-forming recessed portion along the mating edges that is adapted to form the stone-like surface on the wall. In the preferred embodiment, the form liners of the present invention are matable in a plurality of arrangements. For example, the mating edges of at least two liners are matable in a plurality of arrangements to form a plurality of different gang form liners.
The form liners preferably have mating edges that are rectangular with a pair of lateral edge portions and a pair of end edge portions. The form liners might typically include mating alignment units of about 4 to 40 inches, preferably about 8 to 16 inches, and more preferably about 12 inches, with the lateral edge portions including 5 to 20 mating alignment units, preferably 6 to 10 and more preferably 8 mating alignment units; and the end edge portions including two mating alignment units, preferably 2 to 3, and more preferably 2 mating units. Preferably, the interlocking portion of the form liners each have a non-symmetrical pattern. In some construction applications, liners having different patterns to the interlocking portions may be provided. In other applications, liners with substantially identical patterns may be used. Further, liners with identical and different patterns may be provided.
In the preferred embodiment, two form liners are matable between the lateral edge portions of each form liner, between the end edge portions of each form liner, and between one of the lateral edge portions of one of the form liners and one of the end edge portions of one of another form liner. A third form liner may be provided having a mating edge wherein the third form liner is matable along the mating edge to at least one of the mating edges of said first and second form liners. Any number of additional number of form liners may also be provided to mate with the other liners.
The present invention also relates to a method of forming a wall having a natural stone wall contour. Using the form liners of the present invention, preferably at least two form liners are mated along the mating edges to form a gang form liner. A mold member is provided and the gang form liner and mold member are secured to create an enclosed molding cavity between the gang form liner and the mold member wherein the lateral relief mold face of each form liner faces toward a portion of the mold member with the gang form liner and the mold member spaced apart at the distance equal to the desired thickness of the wall. The molding cavity is filled with a hardenable construction material and allowed to set. The gang form liner and the mold member are removed from the set construction material to provide a wall portion having at least one lateral face having a contour of a stone wall molded from the lateral relief mold faces of the form liners of the gang form liner. Of course, a wall could be formed using a single form liner of the invention, molding each section of the wall individually.
The method preferably further comprises the steps of rearranging the form liners after forming a wall portion and mating the form liners in a second arrangement to form a second gang form liner having a different pattern to the gang liner used to form the first wall portion. Possible rearrangements of the form liners of the first gang form liner to form the second form liner when one of the lateral edge portions of a first liner is mated with one of the lateral edge portions of the second liner in the first gang form liner include: (1) sliding one or both of the first and second form liners along the mated lateral edge portions of said first liner and said second liner; (2) mating one of the end edge portions of the first liner with one of the lateral edge portions of the second liner; (3) mating the lateral edge portion of the first liner with the other lateral edge portion of the second liner; (4) mating the other lateral edge portion of the first liner with the other lateral edge portion of the second liner; and (5) mating one of the end edge portions of the first liner with one of the end edge portions of the second liner.